UEFA Champions League 2012 Group Stage Draw: Winners and Losers

The draw for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League was made on Thursday, and we now know the challenge awaiting Europe's finest when the action kicks off on September 18.

As ever, we were dealt a "group of death." Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund all won their respective league titles last season, but that hasn't stopped them being drawn together in Group D with Ajax.

Defending champions Chelsea have also drawn one of Europe's big hitters in Italian champions Juventus, but both will feel confident of finishing ahead of Nordsjælland and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group E.

Elsewhere, there were relatively straightforward draws for Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, while Arsenal will also be fancied to emerge in the knockout stages.

Losers: Madrid, City, Dortmund and Ajax

Manchester City are Premier League champions. Real Madrid are La Liga champions. Borussia Dortmund are German champions. Ajax are Dutch champions.

You'd think the seedings would have kept them apart. But the seedings are based on more than what happened just last season.

The reason they could come together is that both Dortmund and City have only recently begun their upward trajectory—meaning their UEFA coefficient score is yet to reflect their true standing in the European game.

Roberto Mancini's City had a similarly nightmarish draw last season, when they came up against Napoli, Bayern Munich and Villarreal—and fell just short.

This time around, you could argue they've got it even harder. Jose Mourinho's Madrid toppled Barca in Spain last season, while Dortmund have reigned in Germany for two seasons running at the expense of Bayern.

Could Have Been Better: Chelsea

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Chelsea were in crisis at the halfway point of their last-16 tie with Napoli last season.

Andre Villas-Boas left, Roberto Di Matteo came in, and from there it was the stuff of miracles for the Blues—who mounted a stirring comeback against Napoli at home, then beat Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to win their first European title.

Di Matteo will have been hoping for a slightly easier group stage draw, as his team set about defending their crown.

Juventus are Italian champions and come with plenty of European experience on the big stage. They might be without their suspended manager Antonio Conte for a while, but the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Giorgio Chiellini and Arturo Vidal still pack a heavyweight punch.

Shakhtar Donetsk might not be a pushover, either. The Ukrainians were UEFA Cup winners in 2009 and are becoming a mainstay of the Champions League group stage.

Nordsjælland are an unknown quantity. This is the first time in the big cup for the Danish champions.